Environmental groups have panned the state government’s inquiry into the Margaret River Bushfire, saying it completely overlooks systemic problems with the Department for Environment and Conservation’s prescribed burning program.
Conservation Council of Western Australia director Piers Verstegan said Premier Colin Barnett had missed an opportunity to get the state’s prescribed burning program under control, saying the DEC’s current practices were reckless.
“Nobody disagrees that we need some carefully targeted prescribed burning, but the way the DEC are currently firebombing thousands of hectares of forest and bushland is putting communities at risk and having devastating impacts on our environment,” Dr Verstegan said.
WA Forest Alliance spokesperson Jess Beckerling described the terms of the government's inquiry as “hopelessly inadequate”, saying it would do nothing to lessen the risk of further bushfire disasters.
“Looking at the Margaret River fire in isolation is a mistake,” Ms Beckerling said.
“In the days leading up to the disaster, the DEC lit fires near Margaret River, Denmark, Manjimup and Walpole.
“This split the state’s fire-fighting resources, with disastrous consequences, and showed up the systemic failure to prepare appropriately for extreme weather conditions.”
Ms Beckerling said the DEC’s annual burn target of 200,000 hectares in the South West was causing it to take “unacceptable risks”.
“The 2004 comprehensive COAG inquiry into bushfire management found that having an annual burn target is unhelpful and may even be counterproductive,” she said.
“Sadly, this had been proven true.”
Wilderness Society WA state coordinator Peter Robertson said the inquiry should incorporate scientific studies to investigate the full environmental impacts of the prescribed burning program.
“Decision makers and the wider community need to know what toll these fires are taking on the species and ecological communities that make the South West of WA an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot,” Mr Robertson said.